PicoQuant, a specialist in single photon counting applications, is launching a new type of non-descanned detection (NDD) for its FLIM and FCS upgrade kit for laser scanning microscopes (LSMs).
The recently developed NDD set-up includes a large core liquid light guide with high fluorescence transmission and Hybrid-PMT detectors that feature an excellent timing performance. It is available in a single or dual channel detector configuration and can be attached to both inverse and upright microscopes.
In the new NDD set-up, one or two Hybrid-PMT detectors can be connected to the LSM via a large core liquid light guide. The light guide is either mounted to a suited NDD port of the microscope or, alternatively, a specially developed dove-tail adapter is inserted into the DIC port of the microscope.
The latter approach features a very high light collection efficiency of up to 80 per cent due to the light collection being very near to the objective and the high fluorescence transmission in the liquid light guide.
The timing performance of the NDD set-up is achieved by the Hybrid-PMTs that permit to resolve fluorescence lifetimes down to 50ps. In addition, the detectors feature a high photon detection efficiency of up to 45 per cent at 500nm, which even enables additional measurement modes like fluorescence correlation spectroscopy (FCS) for this type of NDD.
PicoQuant's FLIM and FCS upgrade kit is a complete set of instruments that can be adapted to all major LSMs in various configurations. The upgrade kit extends the capabilities of an LSM towards time-resolved measurements with a resolution down to picoseconds and allows users to perform various analysis methods on this time scale.